The Investigators: More customers victimized at long-term parking lot

QUEENS (WABC) -- After our initial investigation aired about problems at two long-term parking lots near JFK Airport, we received numerous phone calls and emails from other customers.

And when you read their stories, you'll think twice about who you leave your car with next time you head off on vacation.

In an Eyewitness News Investigation last month, Tony, the manager of two long-term parking lots near JFK airport had no interest in talking to us about one of his customers. Lee Afflerbach discovered that when he left his car with Tony, it had been damaged and driven 2,000 miles around the city.

"Someone was joy-riding around in my car," he said.

Margaret Hughes, of Glen Rock, New Jersey, thinks the same thing happened to her car. She called us after seeing our investigation. When she got home with her daughter after picking up her car, she noticed there was a baby seat in the back.

"We turned to the back seat, and she said, 'mom there's a baby seat in the back of the car,'" Margaret said. "I'm like, what?...Someone's used the vehicle."

Craig and Amanda Franco, of New Rochelle, reached out to us after seeing our report. They suspected someone at the lot had pulled a fast one on them as well.

"That's when the light went off and we said, wow, we just got scammed," Craig said.

The Francos say when they picked up their car at the lot, as they were driving away, they immediately noticed a problem.

"All four tires were damaged, split," Amanda said. "You could see the threading. I knew right away this wasn't safe to continue driving."

They say they went back to the parking lot to confront Tony. He told the them one of his workers must have run over something in the lot, and he promised to pay to have the tires replaced.

"It started to settle in a day or two after that, that something was not right," Craig said.

So the they checked a picture of their car taken the day they bought it. The car tires were not only newer, but a different make than the damaged tires discovered on their car when they picked it up.

"They put these unsafe tires on our vehicle knowing full well we would drive out of there, and anything could happen once we left the lot," Craig said.

"He put our lives at stake," Amanda said.

We also received pictures from another customer who claims to have had her tires stolen too.

When we went back to ask Tony about the tires his customers say were stolen from their cars, he locked us out and would not come out to talk to us.

"One thing he said to me is, 'You can trust me. I'm the most honest guy you'll ever meet. Ask anybody,'" Amanda said.

It seems that's what Tony tells all his customers.

"I'll take care of everything," Tony told us in our previous report. "And you can bet my word is as good as gold. Ask anybody."

While Tony promised to reimburse the Francos, they've yet to get a check, and their repeated calls and emails have been ignored.